OCR Text |
Show THE IHHICATION PBOJECT. Tiie Omaha Ikral'I, in common uith some other eastern papers, is inclined to bcolf at tlie idea of a scheme of irrigation, for the great plains, which shall make a gaj'den of the desert, and jdvo t'oe fuuntry broad and fertile fu-ins where now j the Indian and the hull'alo are the j -..le tenants. It sUgge.-ts that tiie scheme would create a beautiful ad- dition to the army of oliiee hold-'i-s, ; who would move: j all -t.-nm liiv t-i'ni.i.-. Iiiii'd --l'L'in.-, J .-Crinkling Jl-, pci'-ii I"1-'-. -yiai.-.- ; i n nr. -1. in i; nith -t, :..l :u..l iii:ij.-lie tiva.i . t.,,.nM.l ..f eioru.1, . 1,...U , I i. itiiiii,' and nulling wail ev.i-L-1 l"-in- ! ni'v. j I The suggestion is very amiiaiugly I expn.-.-ul, and the aceonipanying ;eall for a governiuent fire brigade to help the farmers on the prairiesof Nebraska Ne-braska extinguish the great I'm l hat yearly devastate their fields and dratroy their properly, is quite satirical; satiri-cal; but the t entire article oilers no more subsLiutial argument than ridicule, ridi-cule, which is no argument at all. Cont-idering that the Unit'd Slates it-elf owns nine-tenths of all the region re-gion to be bcnclited, and would enrich en-rich itself by turning, into valuable farming lands millions of acres, now almost worthless, which cultivated would support the dvnsest population, and add inestimable wealth to the entire country, the shafts of ridieulo : fall short of their object. Paternal interference with railway, telegraph, banking and other matters of private enterprise is not to be encouraged, but the question of making tenant-able tenant-able one-third of the geographical urea of the entire Republic is of the utmost national interest, and one at which the. cry of."Buchu swindle" can scarcely be raised. The cast and the weat arc to day separated by an arid waste, spanned only by the narrow bands of tho Pacific Pa-cific railways. The tides of immigration immigra-tion that pour upon our shores reach the Missouri River and are turned back by leagues upon leagues of plains, which uow are uninhabitable; but which experience teaches maybe made as productive as the richest bottom lands of Iowa or Illinois. Is it economy ; is it good sense ; is it statesmanship to faster and encourage this condition of ad'airs ; to let such a dsiuain He idle while the demand for homes comes from across the Atlantic continually and without limit, and when we consider the annual production produc-tion of such an area, the vast population popula-tion it would support, and the immense im-mense benelit to be received therefrom by the great gold and silver regions of the continent, whose laborers cannot devote their time or energies to agricultural agri-cultural pursuits, and yet who must be provided with the "stall' ot life" if the country is to be benefitted by its stores of uncoim-d wealth ? It is poor taste and worse judgment that ignores all these points, and is ready to exclaim ex-claim ' ' land-grants, ' ' ' 'swindle," ."Credit Mobilier," "paternalism," at the suggestion (.hat a wise people should calmly and judiciously consider a project of so great national moment. mo-ment. In the words of Cov. Klbert, in his address at the Colorado Irrigation Convention Con-vention : Ti dure Wi;re no ether arumi-nt in half of the smvuninii-ni aiil, we would tintl me of first import ana; in tt' JueL that Uiis region Dierfat nictflllif-Tous fln-n of ihe Jlopablie. Whilu it with thn .'.Tl in coal, iron, cupper and nil the ba.er metals it is pre-einint.'ntly the jroM and silver region of Ui eontiii"Ml. The amount am-ount ni'jjuld and silver coin niiini a people peo-ple is largely the measure of their pro--perily. To produce the precious mUU i. ot'lir-t import mice widi every emit na-lien. na-lien. The point T iniike is, that Hie mining min-ing int'Tt'.-t i.s dependent on local agricnl-turf. agricnl-turf. ou cannot work your ininei Toti-tti).lyon Toti-tti).lyon imported hroiid." The thousands il:o iiov,- and will hereafter .lelve in these niouniains and lilt their plittering treasure; treas-ure; to the .-un-liglit, irnut draw ttu ir Ifnanee from the fertile vaUeys that lie enveloped in their urnis and stretch aw ay from their feet. And until this condition of things is cumpase'L your mines will i lever be economically or .-ucci-ssiully worked. Until the plain shall send to the mountain its will of bread, the mountain will withhold from the nation its "in. of g.:.u. To-d:iy Juicph A'rcb, lc:ukr of the Briti.li F;irm Laborer's movement, wbo aC'Ubt in America homes for 600,000 tillers of the soil, reports to his countrymen th.it the "promised lnnd, " the United States, offers so little inducement to them that he advises every eflbrt bo directed Ui the regeneration of Canada that it may be made fit for the reception of English Eng-lish laborers. With a wise and comprehensive com-prehensive plan for the irrigation of the great plains in successful operation, opera-tion, this country would have been spared the chagrin of such a report; and until such plan is adopted and put into execution desirable immigrants immi-grants may be expected to seek eligible eligi-ble farming lands even in bleak inhospitable Canada. There is a "penny-wise and pound-foolish" policy even in conducting the aflairs of a nation and croakers at government govern-ment :is-i..t.mce in irrigation are strong advocates thrrr.if. |